by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 15 August 2007)
Peter Ramsaroop announced over a week ago in a Kaieteur News column that he intends to run for president of Guyana in 2011. Yes, he is my brother-in-law and as such I should probably hold my tongue on this subject. However, it seems necessary that someone should point out the obvious for Peter Ramsaroop.
For example, it is four very long years before the next election. I remember thinking late last year - when American presidential hopefuls started announcing their candidacies – that it would be a long two years before the next elections. At least their excuse is that there will be a primary election early next year.
By the time Guyana’s next general election comes around, I could have grandchildren, global warming could force Guyana’s population to move further inland and Poised and Proper Priya could have outmanoeuvred Smart and Sharp Robert for the PPP’s nomination.
It is not as if anyone enjoys the prelude to an election. This is true no matter what country in which you live. However, there are some countries that find the pre-election mumbo jumbo even more precarious than others.
The pre-election political climate in Guyana is not an enjoyable time for people, so I am sure everyone will feel nothing but deep appreciation toward Peter for attempting to force this upon them so soon after the last election.
I saw a news report in passing on the television the other day in which it seems the American candidates are having second thoughts about starting their campaigns so soon. It seems this extra time has given the media plenty of time to dig around in their personal lives and pick apart the things they do and say even more.
For example, I can easily come up with a few things that deserve picking apart from Peter’s two columns in Kaieteur News. In his column from August 5 he declared himself a pro-West presidential candidate for 2011. To put it bluntly, this is political suicide from the get go.
I simply do not think it is good political stratagem to declare oneself a pro-West candidate nowadays. In case Peter does not know, the Lebanese candidate backed by the West lost the election last week and most political analysts are saying the loss was precisely because of the Western support he received.
Quite frankly, the West is viewed as a plague on the earth right now and the Western principles that Peter so proudly touts are scorned by many (and rightfully so) thanks to Bush and Blair. As such, any candidate with support from the West is sure to alienate a healthy portion of the population.
It also seems Peter should invest in a good public relations specialist to help him weed out bad ideas, like the idea to use a response by the government to one of his Stabroek News articles in an attempt to compare the PPP to Hugo Chavez (a comparison I think stretches reality quite a bit). If Peter intends to write columns that toss about criticisms of the government, he should expect a reply if the government feels one is necessary.
Every columnist has to learn how to bite the bullet and allow others to respond to the articles they write without feeling as if there is a boogieman behind every response. The government's response to Peter's column (though a bit childish in parts) should not even come close to being received in the same vein as Chavez expelling foreigners from his country for calling him a dictator. That is just silly.
In fact, if Peter were paying attention he would know that Guyana’s government is actually enacting a comprehensive ethanol strategy, which Peter had suggested in several of his earlier columns. I am sure they have their twisted agenda (as always), but they are in fact working toward ethanol production. No boogieman there.
It seems as if Peter wants to stir the pot and be known as a social agitator. I’m just not sure if Peter realises the complexity of such a role. Or if he does, it is not clear that he has yet to comprehend the weight of such a function and apply the necessary tact.
A public relations specialist, or maybe a good dictionary, would also keep Peter from embarrassing himself by tossing about words like “foreign coup,” in a positive light - like he did in his most recent column in Kaieteur News.
In that column Peter said, “It's our outside lobbying that is bringing in the Foreign Coup in order for our nation to develop and create wealth for our people and get them out of poverty.” No matter how one phrases the word “coup,” it is not a word that should be tossed about airily by commentators or politicians.
Peter’s phrase makes it seem as if some foreign forces are waiting to pounce on Guyana. Again, this is just silly. If he had just Googled the phrase “foreign coup,” then perhaps he would have known how dangerous the phrase truly is and saved some face in the process.
Yes indeed, this could be a long four years if Peter intends to continue to subject us to such writings. On the other hand, Guyana will have some well-needed entertainment between paying VAT taxes and fighting traffic.
Email: StellaSays@gmail.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Stella Says…To hell with democracy, loyalty is all that matters
by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 12 August 2007)
Over the past few weeks there have been some words spoken by Robert Corbin that I have not been able to shake. These words were quoted in the July 21 issue of Stabroek News from Corbin’s speech to the PNC party on July 20 in which – referring to the challenge of his leadership position by Team Alexander - he said, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.”
When I first read these words, I had to stop and re-read them from sheer disbelief that an opposition leader in a free country, in front of so many people, would speak such words. I have already written a column comparing Corbin’s nasty little speech with that of the AFC’s Raphael Trotman at his party’s conference, but I feel these particular words spoken by Corbin should be examined in greater depth.
At face value alone, these words are some of the most dangerous words that could proceed from the mouth of a leader. However, when taken in context – that is, when we consider that these words were spoken because some in this leader’s party were challenging his position – these words are quite chilling.
I believe in democracy for one reason and that is because I do not trust one man or an elite group to oversee the best interests of an entire nation of people. Whether a sole leader feels he is divinely appointed or has right to leadership because he has “royal” blood, I believe humans in such a heady position to be dangerous.
Democracy provides protection against the evils that can emanate from an unchecked leader. Or rather, it should. Even when the people establish a healthy system of checks and balances, ego-tripping leaders still find ways of pursuing their own selfish agendas.
However, the thought of reverting back to a life of tyranny again where no one is free but those who have power and money is all that is needed to keep me singing the praises of democracy. I want my children to marry whom they please, to worship what they please (if they want to worship at all) and to come and go as they please without the permission of a slimy lord who imposes his will on them.
Can you imagine such power in the hands of someone like Robert Corbin or Robert Persaud? What a terrifying idea. Which is why it really pisses me off when I think of Corbin’s words, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.”
In short, this statement implies - to hell with democracy, everyone one of you had better do as I say or suffer the consequences. This statement, and many more made by him on July 20, shows Corbin expects loyalty above all else – even if he does not deserve such loyalty (and he does not).
From this statement alone, it is clear that it is Corbin who should be standing before a disciplinary committee. If the members of the PNC have a loss of confidence in anyone, these words show that it should be Robert Corbin.
How dare Corbin think he can sweep democracy away in one wide stroke to serve his own purposes? That whole horse and pony show was nothing more than Corbin’s attempt at swaying those in attendance to his side so he could serve yet a little longer as the bungling leader of the PNC.
Mark my words; the PNC will not be any different in a year than they are today. A sad reality that might have been averted had Team Alexander been given the chance to speak its mind before Corbin poisoned the conference with his dark words.
If anything, the PNC – under Corbin’s ongoing leadership - will remain the pawn of the PPP or become even more subservient to the wishes of the ruling party. As such, nothing will change for the better in Guyana because the ruling government has no motivation to alter its modus operandi for the likes of Robert Corbin.
Is it any wonder why those who challenged Corbin’s leadership operated outside of party lines? It is quite clear that within the confines of party regulations, Corbin would not have allowed his leadership to be challenged. If the members of the PNC were to have a choice of candidates – as well they should have – it was only going to happen the way it did with Team Alexander.
Even through the route taken by the challengers, which was to let the nation know fully what was transpiring in the party, Corbin still had the audacity to damn democracy and demand obedience in front of the world.
It is not a strong leader who acts thus. If a leader cripples democracy, this leader is the weakest link in the entire system. Those who re-elected Corbin as the PNC party leader have just enfeebled Guyana’s entire democratic state.
Corbin should have been flatly rejected as a leader after the people heard the words, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.” The PNC members should have responded to Corbin, “To hell with cohesion, no party interested in democracy would tolerate a leader with so little regard for democracy.”
Corbin’s words continue to ring in my ears weeks after they were spoken. They are words that will no doubt bring much suffering and pain.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 12 August 2007)
Over the past few weeks there have been some words spoken by Robert Corbin that I have not been able to shake. These words were quoted in the July 21 issue of Stabroek News from Corbin’s speech to the PNC party on July 20 in which – referring to the challenge of his leadership position by Team Alexander - he said, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.”
When I first read these words, I had to stop and re-read them from sheer disbelief that an opposition leader in a free country, in front of so many people, would speak such words. I have already written a column comparing Corbin’s nasty little speech with that of the AFC’s Raphael Trotman at his party’s conference, but I feel these particular words spoken by Corbin should be examined in greater depth.
At face value alone, these words are some of the most dangerous words that could proceed from the mouth of a leader. However, when taken in context – that is, when we consider that these words were spoken because some in this leader’s party were challenging his position – these words are quite chilling.
I believe in democracy for one reason and that is because I do not trust one man or an elite group to oversee the best interests of an entire nation of people. Whether a sole leader feels he is divinely appointed or has right to leadership because he has “royal” blood, I believe humans in such a heady position to be dangerous.
Democracy provides protection against the evils that can emanate from an unchecked leader. Or rather, it should. Even when the people establish a healthy system of checks and balances, ego-tripping leaders still find ways of pursuing their own selfish agendas.
However, the thought of reverting back to a life of tyranny again where no one is free but those who have power and money is all that is needed to keep me singing the praises of democracy. I want my children to marry whom they please, to worship what they please (if they want to worship at all) and to come and go as they please without the permission of a slimy lord who imposes his will on them.
Can you imagine such power in the hands of someone like Robert Corbin or Robert Persaud? What a terrifying idea. Which is why it really pisses me off when I think of Corbin’s words, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.”
In short, this statement implies - to hell with democracy, everyone one of you had better do as I say or suffer the consequences. This statement, and many more made by him on July 20, shows Corbin expects loyalty above all else – even if he does not deserve such loyalty (and he does not).
From this statement alone, it is clear that it is Corbin who should be standing before a disciplinary committee. If the members of the PNC have a loss of confidence in anyone, these words show that it should be Robert Corbin.
How dare Corbin think he can sweep democracy away in one wide stroke to serve his own purposes? That whole horse and pony show was nothing more than Corbin’s attempt at swaying those in attendance to his side so he could serve yet a little longer as the bungling leader of the PNC.
Mark my words; the PNC will not be any different in a year than they are today. A sad reality that might have been averted had Team Alexander been given the chance to speak its mind before Corbin poisoned the conference with his dark words.
If anything, the PNC – under Corbin’s ongoing leadership - will remain the pawn of the PPP or become even more subservient to the wishes of the ruling party. As such, nothing will change for the better in Guyana because the ruling government has no motivation to alter its modus operandi for the likes of Robert Corbin.
Is it any wonder why those who challenged Corbin’s leadership operated outside of party lines? It is quite clear that within the confines of party regulations, Corbin would not have allowed his leadership to be challenged. If the members of the PNC were to have a choice of candidates – as well they should have – it was only going to happen the way it did with Team Alexander.
Even through the route taken by the challengers, which was to let the nation know fully what was transpiring in the party, Corbin still had the audacity to damn democracy and demand obedience in front of the world.
It is not a strong leader who acts thus. If a leader cripples democracy, this leader is the weakest link in the entire system. Those who re-elected Corbin as the PNC party leader have just enfeebled Guyana’s entire democratic state.
Corbin should have been flatly rejected as a leader after the people heard the words, “democracy or not, no party interested in cohesion would tolerate the kind of indiscipline which was recently displayed.” The PNC members should have responded to Corbin, “To hell with cohesion, no party interested in democracy would tolerate a leader with so little regard for democracy.”
Corbin’s words continue to ring in my ears weeks after they were spoken. They are words that will no doubt bring much suffering and pain.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Stella Says… Give us some semblance of 21st century competency on the AFC and PNC Websites
by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 08 August 2007)
There is almost nothing a person cannot do on the Internet today. I can get my morning stuffed full of news from around the world, order dinner and have it delivered right to my door or buy some sexy new heels from my favourite store.
Every new day brings another great idea to the World Wide Web. Youtube.com is absolutely fantastic. A person can watch the latest videos and then laugh hysterically at all the Bush gaffs you want – and there are plenty. When I lived in the DC area, I could even do all of my grocery shopping online and have it delivered to my house. I miss that service in Texas.
Guyana has this new service though. Giftland OfficeMax has a new Website in which a person can place orders and have it delivered right to the house. I can place orders and have it shipped overseas too. Or if I want, I can place orders for my family in Guyana and have it delivered to them. The Internet is such a wonderful world.
Which makes me wonder why the PNC and AFC are so lax in maintaining their Websites. The PPP’s party Website was not up-to-date or anything special either (it is so busy that one’s eye does not know where to rest), but they are the ones in power and the ones with moneybag for radio, television and newspaper ads and they have GINA to spread their propaganda.
The AFC (afcguyana.com) and the PNC (guyanapnc.org) cannot afford to allow their Internet presence to fail them. For example, the AFC had just updated its Website with news from its recent conference earlier this week and only with Trotman’s speech (which was also the AFC column in last Sunday’s Kaieteur News). It took the AFC at least a week to update their site. Sigh.
It is better to have no Web presence at all than to provide slow information. In today’s day and age, the AFC’s site should have been updated the very next morning after the conference before the rest of the world woke up. But even if we let everyone get some rest before the site was updated, it should have been up no later than the evening of the 29th.
In my mind, any political party of the 21st century that cannot daily maintain its Website will have a tough time of it if they actually won an election and were required to maintain a whole country. Moreover, this new political party should be portraying an image of being cutting edge and progressive – not antiquated and technologically inept.
Though nothing spectacular, at least the AFC has a decent enough Website to start with, unlike the PNC. The PNC did update their information from the conference. That much I must applaud them for, but that is where my compliments end. I bet there are teenagers in Guyana who could create a better Website than what the PNC currently has online for the world to see.
The PNC site has several links that are dead (do not connect to anything), is donning an extremely poor layout and design, and is so boring that I have to prop my eyes open with toothpicks so I do not fall asleep while reading it. Oh, and if I see one more picture of Robert Corbin on that site, I am going to puke.
Really now, the PNC would do better to create a personalised banner for a blog from Blogspot or Wordpress and use one of these programs to maintain a party site. It would look 100 percent better than what they have up now. Better yet, hire someone to create an effective Website – or even get a volunteer to do it. Just do something!
Neither the AFC or PNC sites gave the reader a sense of what can be expected from the future. It is important for political parties to keep the people informed about where the party stands on certain issues and what can be expected from this party in the short-term as well as the long-term. Yet both of these opposition sites highlighted the past – not the future. The AFC even still had a long diatribe about the seat controversy, but there was nothing about their future plans.
Really now, political parties have it so easy nowadays with the Internet at their disposal for dispensing information to a large bloc of people in a very short amount of time. Technology does all the heavy lifting for them. I realise that not all Guyanese have access to the Internet – neither do all Americans, Canadians or Brits – but there is a growing population that can get online and these are the ones who demand up-to-the-minute information.
Surely these national leaders know people who can create and maintain respectable Websites. If nothing else, track down the person in charge of Giftland OfficeMax’s Website and ask for a referral.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt if all those in photos on the “Candidates” page for the AFC cracked a smile for the people of Guyana. Hey, at least the AFC has photos of someone besides one person. The only person anywhere on the PNC’s site is Robert Corbin. How fitting. It is utterly ironic that when one clicks on the “Leader” button on the PNC Website, it goes to a blank page. Again, quite fitting.
Get it together AFC and PNC. Stand up and act like some real opposition parties for a change. The people of Guyana do not have time to wait around for you to get your act together. That is a job that should have been done yesterday. Meanwhile, crime is running high and annual incomes are running low.
Let’s see some semblance of 21st century competency – especially from the AFC – which is suppose to be the party of the future, but looks a lot like the past on its Website.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 08 August 2007)
There is almost nothing a person cannot do on the Internet today. I can get my morning stuffed full of news from around the world, order dinner and have it delivered right to my door or buy some sexy new heels from my favourite store.
Every new day brings another great idea to the World Wide Web. Youtube.com is absolutely fantastic. A person can watch the latest videos and then laugh hysterically at all the Bush gaffs you want – and there are plenty. When I lived in the DC area, I could even do all of my grocery shopping online and have it delivered to my house. I miss that service in Texas.
Guyana has this new service though. Giftland OfficeMax has a new Website in which a person can place orders and have it delivered right to the house. I can place orders and have it shipped overseas too. Or if I want, I can place orders for my family in Guyana and have it delivered to them. The Internet is such a wonderful world.
Which makes me wonder why the PNC and AFC are so lax in maintaining their Websites. The PPP’s party Website was not up-to-date or anything special either (it is so busy that one’s eye does not know where to rest), but they are the ones in power and the ones with moneybag for radio, television and newspaper ads and they have GINA to spread their propaganda.
The AFC (afcguyana.com) and the PNC (guyanapnc.org) cannot afford to allow their Internet presence to fail them. For example, the AFC had just updated its Website with news from its recent conference earlier this week and only with Trotman’s speech (which was also the AFC column in last Sunday’s Kaieteur News). It took the AFC at least a week to update their site. Sigh.
It is better to have no Web presence at all than to provide slow information. In today’s day and age, the AFC’s site should have been updated the very next morning after the conference before the rest of the world woke up. But even if we let everyone get some rest before the site was updated, it should have been up no later than the evening of the 29th.
In my mind, any political party of the 21st century that cannot daily maintain its Website will have a tough time of it if they actually won an election and were required to maintain a whole country. Moreover, this new political party should be portraying an image of being cutting edge and progressive – not antiquated and technologically inept.
Though nothing spectacular, at least the AFC has a decent enough Website to start with, unlike the PNC. The PNC did update their information from the conference. That much I must applaud them for, but that is where my compliments end. I bet there are teenagers in Guyana who could create a better Website than what the PNC currently has online for the world to see.
The PNC site has several links that are dead (do not connect to anything), is donning an extremely poor layout and design, and is so boring that I have to prop my eyes open with toothpicks so I do not fall asleep while reading it. Oh, and if I see one more picture of Robert Corbin on that site, I am going to puke.
Really now, the PNC would do better to create a personalised banner for a blog from Blogspot or Wordpress and use one of these programs to maintain a party site. It would look 100 percent better than what they have up now. Better yet, hire someone to create an effective Website – or even get a volunteer to do it. Just do something!
Neither the AFC or PNC sites gave the reader a sense of what can be expected from the future. It is important for political parties to keep the people informed about where the party stands on certain issues and what can be expected from this party in the short-term as well as the long-term. Yet both of these opposition sites highlighted the past – not the future. The AFC even still had a long diatribe about the seat controversy, but there was nothing about their future plans.
Really now, political parties have it so easy nowadays with the Internet at their disposal for dispensing information to a large bloc of people in a very short amount of time. Technology does all the heavy lifting for them. I realise that not all Guyanese have access to the Internet – neither do all Americans, Canadians or Brits – but there is a growing population that can get online and these are the ones who demand up-to-the-minute information.
Surely these national leaders know people who can create and maintain respectable Websites. If nothing else, track down the person in charge of Giftland OfficeMax’s Website and ask for a referral.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt if all those in photos on the “Candidates” page for the AFC cracked a smile for the people of Guyana. Hey, at least the AFC has photos of someone besides one person. The only person anywhere on the PNC’s site is Robert Corbin. How fitting. It is utterly ironic that when one clicks on the “Leader” button on the PNC Website, it goes to a blank page. Again, quite fitting.
Get it together AFC and PNC. Stand up and act like some real opposition parties for a change. The people of Guyana do not have time to wait around for you to get your act together. That is a job that should have been done yesterday. Meanwhile, crime is running high and annual incomes are running low.
Let’s see some semblance of 21st century competency – especially from the AFC – which is suppose to be the party of the future, but looks a lot like the past on its Website.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Stella Says…People are more important than money
by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 05 August 2007)
I despise those bosses who treat their employees like dirt so the boss can feel more important. The ironic part of it is that no one – I repeat, absolutely no on – respects such a person. The only place that mean boss becomes more important is in his or her own head.
For example, one day a couple of years ago I was in the presence of a businessman for whom I already had very little respect. I had seen this man back out on deals he had made, I watched as he expected his employees to work all hours of the day regardless of their families and I saw him put money before everything else in the world – everything that actually mattered.
On this particular day though, I was to see another side of him that made me shake my head in pity for any person who would ever work for him. I watched as he ordered people about as if they were his slaves instead of employees. But it was how he treated these people, as if they were so much less important than he was, that made my stomach turn.
He treated them as if their feelings held no importance to him whatsoever and it was clear that if he said jump, they must jump or pay a heavy price for the insubordination. Moreover, he had no manners whatsoever. There was no please, thank you or any appearance that his workers’ feelings mattered whatsoever to him.
If ever I had seen an abusive situation, this one rank on the very top of the list. Of course, he probably thought I was impressed by his management style when in fact I was repulsed by it. It was obvious that this man’s ego needed to be stroked in a big way, so he used money to create an atmosphere in which he could put himself on a pedestal of superiority to all those around him.
To make matters worse, this man paid his employees a mere pittance, which was not worth the job considering the abuse to which these poor people were subjected on a constant basis. Like I said before, I despise this type of person. In fact, I would never work for such a sad excuse of a human being who thinks money and self is more important than the people around him.
These types of people, the type that abuse others for money or ego, come in many forms. One perfect example of this in Guyana is the destruction of infrastructure by some in the mining community. Can you imagine what insolence it takes to destroy a roadway that also serves as the network for water distribution?
Ah, but making money is all that matters. What does it matter if the people of the local towns cannot get water as long as the mining activity continues and money keeps coming in? Again, I am repulsed by the absolute disregard for others in quest of the almighty dollar.
According to an article entitled, “Guyana Road Destroyed by Illegal Miners” from the Houston Chronicle on August 2, “Kellawan Lall, an adviser to Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo, said the government will have to cut a new road through dense forest due to the extensive damage by unlicensed Guyanese miners and Brazilian prospectors, or ‘garimpeiros.’” Lall continued, “From what we have seen it would be too costly to repair the roads.”
It seems redundant to say that people are more important than money, yet still it seems it must be said. The government must now repair or replace the devastated infrastructure for these people – and who knows how long that is going to take. In the meantime, it is the people who suffer the consequences of this insatiable greed.
The aforementioned article said, “Workers on Thursday were repairing severed underground water pipes that supply nearly 15,000 inhabitants. Authorities could not estimate when service would be restored.”
Right now there could well be a thirsty child crying for water to drink as the mother comforts the child with words of assurance that water will come soon. Down the road a little, there is a mining boss man smiling over the bounty from the past few weeks without a thought as to how much suffering he caused so many people just to get that bounty.
I have to admit that I cannot comprehend this type of callousness. It is beyond my personal capacity to understand the heartless insensitivity to which humans are driven for money or power. Is it any wonder that many religions declare the love of money as the root of all evil?
I truly have no issue with those who have money. My issue, and it is a big one, is when it is obvious that money has the person. It is pathetic when a person will give up family, friends and personal values just to have money.
Sure, money might buy comfort of situation – a nice car, a big house and fancy things - but it can never give that person’s conscience any comfort for the sins committed against others in quest of fortune.
How on earth can those miners who tore that roadway to pieces sleep at night knowing the suffering they caused others just for a few pieces of minerals? At the end of it all, money means nothing and those around us mean everything.
People are the most valuable commodity on earth. Be cautious of anyone who would tell you otherwise, because this is the person who will treat you like dirt just to make another dollar. At the end of that person’s life, everyone will pity him or her for never understanding the most important things in our lives – each other.
Email: StellaSay[at]gmail.com
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 05 August 2007)
I despise those bosses who treat their employees like dirt so the boss can feel more important. The ironic part of it is that no one – I repeat, absolutely no on – respects such a person. The only place that mean boss becomes more important is in his or her own head.
For example, one day a couple of years ago I was in the presence of a businessman for whom I already had very little respect. I had seen this man back out on deals he had made, I watched as he expected his employees to work all hours of the day regardless of their families and I saw him put money before everything else in the world – everything that actually mattered.
On this particular day though, I was to see another side of him that made me shake my head in pity for any person who would ever work for him. I watched as he ordered people about as if they were his slaves instead of employees. But it was how he treated these people, as if they were so much less important than he was, that made my stomach turn.
He treated them as if their feelings held no importance to him whatsoever and it was clear that if he said jump, they must jump or pay a heavy price for the insubordination. Moreover, he had no manners whatsoever. There was no please, thank you or any appearance that his workers’ feelings mattered whatsoever to him.
If ever I had seen an abusive situation, this one rank on the very top of the list. Of course, he probably thought I was impressed by his management style when in fact I was repulsed by it. It was obvious that this man’s ego needed to be stroked in a big way, so he used money to create an atmosphere in which he could put himself on a pedestal of superiority to all those around him.
To make matters worse, this man paid his employees a mere pittance, which was not worth the job considering the abuse to which these poor people were subjected on a constant basis. Like I said before, I despise this type of person. In fact, I would never work for such a sad excuse of a human being who thinks money and self is more important than the people around him.
These types of people, the type that abuse others for money or ego, come in many forms. One perfect example of this in Guyana is the destruction of infrastructure by some in the mining community. Can you imagine what insolence it takes to destroy a roadway that also serves as the network for water distribution?
Ah, but making money is all that matters. What does it matter if the people of the local towns cannot get water as long as the mining activity continues and money keeps coming in? Again, I am repulsed by the absolute disregard for others in quest of the almighty dollar.
According to an article entitled, “Guyana Road Destroyed by Illegal Miners” from the Houston Chronicle on August 2, “Kellawan Lall, an adviser to Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo, said the government will have to cut a new road through dense forest due to the extensive damage by unlicensed Guyanese miners and Brazilian prospectors, or ‘garimpeiros.’” Lall continued, “From what we have seen it would be too costly to repair the roads.”
It seems redundant to say that people are more important than money, yet still it seems it must be said. The government must now repair or replace the devastated infrastructure for these people – and who knows how long that is going to take. In the meantime, it is the people who suffer the consequences of this insatiable greed.
The aforementioned article said, “Workers on Thursday were repairing severed underground water pipes that supply nearly 15,000 inhabitants. Authorities could not estimate when service would be restored.”
Right now there could well be a thirsty child crying for water to drink as the mother comforts the child with words of assurance that water will come soon. Down the road a little, there is a mining boss man smiling over the bounty from the past few weeks without a thought as to how much suffering he caused so many people just to get that bounty.
I have to admit that I cannot comprehend this type of callousness. It is beyond my personal capacity to understand the heartless insensitivity to which humans are driven for money or power. Is it any wonder that many religions declare the love of money as the root of all evil?
I truly have no issue with those who have money. My issue, and it is a big one, is when it is obvious that money has the person. It is pathetic when a person will give up family, friends and personal values just to have money.
Sure, money might buy comfort of situation – a nice car, a big house and fancy things - but it can never give that person’s conscience any comfort for the sins committed against others in quest of fortune.
How on earth can those miners who tore that roadway to pieces sleep at night knowing the suffering they caused others just for a few pieces of minerals? At the end of it all, money means nothing and those around us mean everything.
People are the most valuable commodity on earth. Be cautious of anyone who would tell you otherwise, because this is the person who will treat you like dirt just to make another dollar. At the end of that person’s life, everyone will pity him or her for never understanding the most important things in our lives – each other.
Email: StellaSay[at]gmail.com
Friday, August 03, 2007
Stella Says…If you are looking for women, don’t look on the sports page
by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 03 August 2007)
I do not like golf very much. If I am going to watch a sport, it needs to have a lot more action to keep me interested for a long period of time. Otherwise, I will be off to find something else to do that can maintain my short attention span.
However, although I do not like golf – I certainly become interested when women start making the headlines on sports pages around the world, which is the case right now because of the Women’s British Open. Normally, I would not give any sports page much more than a cursory glance.
Why should I give the sports page any attention – or for that matter a sports report from a news show on television? I probably have more pencils in my desk drawer than there have been articles on women athletes in my local newspaper this year.
I watch the news almost every day on television. Sometimes I watch the local news, sometimes the national news and sometimes the international news – just to keep up on what’s going on around me. A few weeks ago I was watching the local newscast in which all of the news stories had been covered, the feel good piece was done and the weather had been forecast, so guess what time it was.
It was time for the sports report. There was basketball, baseball and football – all of which have professional teams that are populated only by men. Click. The television was turned off and I strolled to my computer to browse the Internet for a while. Its not that I cannot watch something that involves men and omits women, its just that I simply don’t care to do so.
However, if more attention were paid to female volleyball or to women’s football, my television would have remained on during a sportscast. Really now, is it so difficult to include at least one article a day about women athletes on the sports page? If there is one place where the old boys club still exists – it is in the sports page.
Sure, every once in a great while there will be an article on a women’s team or a spotlight on a female athlete, but those articles are the exception, not the rule. If sports editors want to increase their readership, there is a whole section of the population biting at the bit for some interesting sports stories about the world’s excellent female athletes.
The stories about these female athletic champions go untold in most newspapers today, while the world heralds the male athletes for even insignificant activities. For example, I know tonight that my local sportscast will talk about the upcoming football season – sports that has yet to happen - and there will be nary a mention of a Mexican female who came out blazing on her first day of the Women’s British Open in Scotland with a 6-under 67.
One might suggest that the lack of reporting on female sports has to do with the lack of females who play sports. However, there women are playing every type of sports – even boxing and skydiving – and still very little is ever said about it. Moreover, I maintain that the lack of females on professional sports teams has to do with the lack of professional sports teams for females.
It is all about the male dominated teams of football, basketball, cricket, baseball, golf, hockey, etc. Where there is no team, there is no opportunity and women are sidelined to obscurity. Be that as it may, this has not stopped women from becoming outstanding athletes. The biggest difference is that the whole world knows who Joe Jock had sex with last night but the female athlete who just broke a world record goes unheralded.
It seems completely absurd to me that one complete section of the newspaper highlights male physical accomplishments and at the same time very seldom does the same for female physical accomplishments. I bet that for every 50 males mentioned in the sports section of a newspaper or in a sportscast on television, there is maybe one female.
This is insulting to women each and every time a woman picks up a newspaper or turns on a sportscast. The sports page signifies one more place where women are made to seem insignificant when in fact they are every bit as competitive and athletic as men.
Until sports writers and sports editors start taking female athletes more seriously, my television will continue to go “click” when the sportscast comes on and the sports page will keep getting a cursory glance from me – if that.
There is actually only one reason I even glance at the sports page at all and that is to see if there are any stories that will be of interest to me. To be more precise, I’m looking for that elusive article on a female athlete. This is what I want to know about – what a woman can do – after all, I am a woman.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 03 August 2007)
I do not like golf very much. If I am going to watch a sport, it needs to have a lot more action to keep me interested for a long period of time. Otherwise, I will be off to find something else to do that can maintain my short attention span.
However, although I do not like golf – I certainly become interested when women start making the headlines on sports pages around the world, which is the case right now because of the Women’s British Open. Normally, I would not give any sports page much more than a cursory glance.
Why should I give the sports page any attention – or for that matter a sports report from a news show on television? I probably have more pencils in my desk drawer than there have been articles on women athletes in my local newspaper this year.
I watch the news almost every day on television. Sometimes I watch the local news, sometimes the national news and sometimes the international news – just to keep up on what’s going on around me. A few weeks ago I was watching the local newscast in which all of the news stories had been covered, the feel good piece was done and the weather had been forecast, so guess what time it was.
It was time for the sports report. There was basketball, baseball and football – all of which have professional teams that are populated only by men. Click. The television was turned off and I strolled to my computer to browse the Internet for a while. Its not that I cannot watch something that involves men and omits women, its just that I simply don’t care to do so.
However, if more attention were paid to female volleyball or to women’s football, my television would have remained on during a sportscast. Really now, is it so difficult to include at least one article a day about women athletes on the sports page? If there is one place where the old boys club still exists – it is in the sports page.
Sure, every once in a great while there will be an article on a women’s team or a spotlight on a female athlete, but those articles are the exception, not the rule. If sports editors want to increase their readership, there is a whole section of the population biting at the bit for some interesting sports stories about the world’s excellent female athletes.
The stories about these female athletic champions go untold in most newspapers today, while the world heralds the male athletes for even insignificant activities. For example, I know tonight that my local sportscast will talk about the upcoming football season – sports that has yet to happen - and there will be nary a mention of a Mexican female who came out blazing on her first day of the Women’s British Open in Scotland with a 6-under 67.
One might suggest that the lack of reporting on female sports has to do with the lack of females who play sports. However, there women are playing every type of sports – even boxing and skydiving – and still very little is ever said about it. Moreover, I maintain that the lack of females on professional sports teams has to do with the lack of professional sports teams for females.
It is all about the male dominated teams of football, basketball, cricket, baseball, golf, hockey, etc. Where there is no team, there is no opportunity and women are sidelined to obscurity. Be that as it may, this has not stopped women from becoming outstanding athletes. The biggest difference is that the whole world knows who Joe Jock had sex with last night but the female athlete who just broke a world record goes unheralded.
It seems completely absurd to me that one complete section of the newspaper highlights male physical accomplishments and at the same time very seldom does the same for female physical accomplishments. I bet that for every 50 males mentioned in the sports section of a newspaper or in a sportscast on television, there is maybe one female.
This is insulting to women each and every time a woman picks up a newspaper or turns on a sportscast. The sports page signifies one more place where women are made to seem insignificant when in fact they are every bit as competitive and athletic as men.
Until sports writers and sports editors start taking female athletes more seriously, my television will continue to go “click” when the sportscast comes on and the sports page will keep getting a cursory glance from me – if that.
There is actually only one reason I even glance at the sports page at all and that is to see if there are any stories that will be of interest to me. To be more precise, I’m looking for that elusive article on a female athlete. This is what I want to know about – what a woman can do – after all, I am a woman.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Stella Says…Let us compare Corbin with Trotman and Ramjattan
by Stella Ramsaroop
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 01 August 2007)
As I read over portions of Raphael Trotman’s address to those gathered at the AFC’s first conference last Saturday, I could not help but compare it to Robert Corbin’s address from just the week before.
The feeling of Trotman’s speech left a completely different taste in my mouth than Corbin’s. In fact, Trotman’s tasted like refreshing chocolate ice cream with nuts (my favourite) on a scorching hot day. Corbin’s tasted like the repulsive liver my mom forced me to eat even when she knew it made me throw up every time.
It is good to see that the AFC is holding strong to the ideas of democracy within the party. I was highly impressed with Khemraj Ramjattan for refusing to be reinstated as the party’s leader so as to adhere to the AFC’s policy of leadership rotation.
Ramjattan’s move made Corbin appear even smaller – if that is possible – on the political stage. Corbin embarrassed himself with some sneaky moves to keep his position of party leader of the PNC at all costs (the biggest cost being democracy) and a week later Ramjattan comes along and nonchalantly gives up his position willingly.
I have to admit that I was one of those who did not understand the need for leadership rotation in the AFC. It was an original idea, but seemed unnecessary. Moreover, when this idea was introduced, all I could see is a leader getting settled into her/his position just in time to relinquish it to the next person. It made no sense at all.
However, with the PNC and the AFC elections being held so closely together, it is now crystal clear why leadership rotation is so vital to Guyana’s newest opposition party. The desperate need for new leadership in the PNC – and Corbin’s refusal to step down for the good of the party - punctuated the brilliance of the AFC’s leadership rotation.
This new opposition party is just the breath of fresh air Guyana has needed for a long time. The fresh ideas and original leadership approach is just what the doctor prescribed for a nation of jaded voters. That old opposition party is stanky.
I have been waiting around to see if those in the AFC were truly capable of putting Guyana before their egos – and it appears they are indeed. If there is one thing Guyana’s politicians are not short on – it is ego. In fact, there are so many overblown egos in Guyana’s politics that I sometimes wonder how on earth they all fit into one country.
Very, very seldom do we see these megalomaniacs able to restrain their exaggerated sense of self-importance long enough to do right by the people to whom they are honour bound to serve. Enters Khemraj Ramjattan – who makes all those squirrelly sort a laughing stock for all to see by doing what none of them have the decency to do.
Let us return to the comparison of Trotman’s address to the AFC and Corbin’s address to the PNC. Corbin left us feeling as if the “muzzle” was put on and it was time to run for a corner and hide from the big, bad wolf. Trotman’s words birthed hope and reinforced faith in democracy.
Corbin’s words made me rejoice that he was not the leader of Guyana. Trotman’s words made me wish he lived in the Presidential Palace. But there is still a long path ahead of the AFC before the next general elections to prove it can hold unrelentingly to the sentiments it displayed last weekend.
Of all the obvious comparisons that can be made between the AFC and the PNC during the past two weeks, the one that stands out the most is that the PNC leader refused to step down for the good of the party - and thus for the good of the nation - while the AFC leader appears to have insisted on stepping down.
This proves beyond a shadow of the doubt that the PNC is most certainly not Guyana’s future opposition party. The PNC is the past, and a sad and scary past at that. The AFC is now Guyana’s opposition party of the future.
After Corbin’s undemocratic verbal retaliation toward a leadership challenge from some of its most senior members and the PNC’s subsequent decision of disciplinary actions to be taken against those who challenged Corbin, it becomes difficult to hold on to any hope that Guyana has an opposition party worthy of the nation’s citizens. Which is why it is good to have the AFC around right now.
During the last elections, a large number of PNC supporters voted for the AFC. I predict today that come the next general elections, the AFC will become the primary opposition party in Guyana. Who knows, maybe it will even be the ruling party in short order as well?
If those from Team Alexander are as smart as I think they are, they should be thinking about joining the AFC, but only if they are as capable of putting their egos aside for the good of the country like Trotman and Ramjattan. Otherwise, they should just stick it out in obscurity in the PNC as it continues to sink into a black hole of dictatorial oblivion.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 01 August 2007)
As I read over portions of Raphael Trotman’s address to those gathered at the AFC’s first conference last Saturday, I could not help but compare it to Robert Corbin’s address from just the week before.
The feeling of Trotman’s speech left a completely different taste in my mouth than Corbin’s. In fact, Trotman’s tasted like refreshing chocolate ice cream with nuts (my favourite) on a scorching hot day. Corbin’s tasted like the repulsive liver my mom forced me to eat even when she knew it made me throw up every time.
It is good to see that the AFC is holding strong to the ideas of democracy within the party. I was highly impressed with Khemraj Ramjattan for refusing to be reinstated as the party’s leader so as to adhere to the AFC’s policy of leadership rotation.
Ramjattan’s move made Corbin appear even smaller – if that is possible – on the political stage. Corbin embarrassed himself with some sneaky moves to keep his position of party leader of the PNC at all costs (the biggest cost being democracy) and a week later Ramjattan comes along and nonchalantly gives up his position willingly.
I have to admit that I was one of those who did not understand the need for leadership rotation in the AFC. It was an original idea, but seemed unnecessary. Moreover, when this idea was introduced, all I could see is a leader getting settled into her/his position just in time to relinquish it to the next person. It made no sense at all.
However, with the PNC and the AFC elections being held so closely together, it is now crystal clear why leadership rotation is so vital to Guyana’s newest opposition party. The desperate need for new leadership in the PNC – and Corbin’s refusal to step down for the good of the party - punctuated the brilliance of the AFC’s leadership rotation.
This new opposition party is just the breath of fresh air Guyana has needed for a long time. The fresh ideas and original leadership approach is just what the doctor prescribed for a nation of jaded voters. That old opposition party is stanky.
I have been waiting around to see if those in the AFC were truly capable of putting Guyana before their egos – and it appears they are indeed. If there is one thing Guyana’s politicians are not short on – it is ego. In fact, there are so many overblown egos in Guyana’s politics that I sometimes wonder how on earth they all fit into one country.
Very, very seldom do we see these megalomaniacs able to restrain their exaggerated sense of self-importance long enough to do right by the people to whom they are honour bound to serve. Enters Khemraj Ramjattan – who makes all those squirrelly sort a laughing stock for all to see by doing what none of them have the decency to do.
Let us return to the comparison of Trotman’s address to the AFC and Corbin’s address to the PNC. Corbin left us feeling as if the “muzzle” was put on and it was time to run for a corner and hide from the big, bad wolf. Trotman’s words birthed hope and reinforced faith in democracy.
Corbin’s words made me rejoice that he was not the leader of Guyana. Trotman’s words made me wish he lived in the Presidential Palace. But there is still a long path ahead of the AFC before the next general elections to prove it can hold unrelentingly to the sentiments it displayed last weekend.
Of all the obvious comparisons that can be made between the AFC and the PNC during the past two weeks, the one that stands out the most is that the PNC leader refused to step down for the good of the party - and thus for the good of the nation - while the AFC leader appears to have insisted on stepping down.
This proves beyond a shadow of the doubt that the PNC is most certainly not Guyana’s future opposition party. The PNC is the past, and a sad and scary past at that. The AFC is now Guyana’s opposition party of the future.
After Corbin’s undemocratic verbal retaliation toward a leadership challenge from some of its most senior members and the PNC’s subsequent decision of disciplinary actions to be taken against those who challenged Corbin, it becomes difficult to hold on to any hope that Guyana has an opposition party worthy of the nation’s citizens. Which is why it is good to have the AFC around right now.
During the last elections, a large number of PNC supporters voted for the AFC. I predict today that come the next general elections, the AFC will become the primary opposition party in Guyana. Who knows, maybe it will even be the ruling party in short order as well?
If those from Team Alexander are as smart as I think they are, they should be thinking about joining the AFC, but only if they are as capable of putting their egos aside for the good of the country like Trotman and Ramjattan. Otherwise, they should just stick it out in obscurity in the PNC as it continues to sink into a black hole of dictatorial oblivion.
Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com
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